Recipes Galore!

I am absolutely loving my week off! I got to spend time cuddling with my fur babies.

And I spent some fantastic time with the hubby.

I've also had lot's of time on my hands to catch up on some cooking! Here are the recipes I made this week. 

Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

4-6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

1/2 cup Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce

1/2 Cup Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 Cup Red Wine Vinegar

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Thyme

Pepper to taste

Mix everything together and pour over chicken. I usually let it marinade while the chicken thaws, all day. Get your grill hot and cook to 165* F or until insides are no longer pink.

With the chicken I made a rice recipe that is another staple at our house. It is so much better than normal rice and is very simple. 

Rice Pilaf
Ingredients:
1 cube Butter
1 cup Rice
1 Onion, Chopped
1 cup or 1 8 oz can Chicken Broth
1 cup Water
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Parsley Flakes

Melt butter in a skillet and add rice and onion. Cook until rice begins to brown, remembering to stir frequently. In a casserole dish combine all other ingredients. Add rice mixture. Cover and bake at 375* for about 30 minutes.

Next I give you

Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Beef
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Onion, chopped
1 28 oz can crushed tomatos
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 tsp each, oregano, basil, sugar
12 oz cooked spaghetti noodles
6 oz sour cream
12 oz ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Make your meat sauce by browning your meat and adding the onion and garlic. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and seasonings. While you are doing that, cook the noodles and drain. Add noodles to the bottom of a casserole dish.

Next combine the sour cream, ricotta, and 2 cups of the mozzarella. Mix well and add to the top of the noodles.

Now add the meat sauce to the top of this. Bake on 350* for about a half hour. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and enjoy!

I love this spaghetti recipe. It is basically like a lasagna of sorts, but I like it so much better and I don't know why! I feel like it's a bit creamier and there isn't so much noodle, like you get with lasagna.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp baking soda

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp vanilla

The first thing your going to do is cream the butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Make sure there are no clumps of butter left when you're done. Mix the sour cream and soda and allow to sit for a few minutes. It will become light and fluffy. Mix this along with the flour. Make sure to scrape the sides to get everything mixed in. This will need to refrigerate for a couple hours or overnight. This will not be light and fluffy if you don't chill it first. 

When you're ready take it out and set on a floured surface. This will be VERY sticky.

This is what it will look like. 

 At this point you'll want to knead more flour into it. It normally takes a few more cups, but you want to be careful and not mix in too much. Keep it as soft as possible while still being able to work with it. Roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick and use what ever cookie cutters you want. Lay out on baking sheet and bake at 375* for 8-11 minutes, depending on thickness and your oven. The edges will be a light golden color when they are finished cooking. Let cool on a cookie sheet before frosting. 

Which leads me to my final recipe for the day.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1 cube butter, softened

4-5 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla. 

This is just a straight forward cream cheese frosting. cream the cheese, butter, and vanilla. Mix in powdered sugar. You can add more sugar as needed, or add a tablespoon of milk at a time if it is too stiff. You can also replace the vanilla with lemon or orange juice to flavor it. 

Well that's it for today! It's an overload I know, but I've been busy with my week off. Let me know what you think!